>>> hello everybody, i'm bruce johnson. thank you for joining us. the battle to legislate guns continues to put up emotions. in protest of the nra and current gun laws. ken molestina is in columbia heights where the demonstrators are gathering. >> reporter: they gathered here attive lee park on 14th and park in columbia heights. the message following that massacre? sandy hook pretty simple. they want guns in the country to go away. also the group is protesting the nra's recent remarks calling for armed guards and police at every school in the nation. they hope this rally tonight will get the attention of lawmakers to restrict gun ownership in this country. the nra of course is the nation's largest gun lobby with extreme influence and deep pockets and although this peals in comparison the demonstrators hope to keep an already fiery debate going. >> opposition to the national rifle association's press conference yesterday we absolutely do not believe this is the solution to the problem which exists. and that we need to move forward. come up with serious plans to change this. >> r

know the weapons adam lanza used to kill his victims came from her home. bob orr is in washington with more on the investigation. good evening, bob. >> reporter: good evening, jim. as new details emerge, the scope of the horror explains. gunman adam lanza apparently sprayed two classrooms at sandy hook elementary school with relentless fire from a semiautomatic assault rifle. it was a massacre, and most of the victims were first graders. autopsies on the bodies of the children revealed that many, if not all, had been shot multiple times. wayne carver is the chief medical examiner for connecticut. >> i only did seven of the autopsies. the victims i had ranged from 3 to 11 wounds apiece and i only saw two of them with close-range shooting. >> reporter: investigators believe most of the bullets came from a bushmaster 223 assault rifle. it was one of four guns adam lanza took from the home he shared with his mother after he shot and killed her. sources say he left one gun in his car and then forced his way into the school, carrying the assault rifle in his hands and two semiautomatic pisto

quijano this morning, who joins us now. good evening, elaine. >> reporter: good evening to you, jim. well, police chief michael kehoe and captain joe rios arrived at sandy hook elementary within minutes of the call. >> we needed to break into the school to get in because the back doors are secured. >> reporter: how did you get it open? >> broke out the window. >> reporter: it was quiet, and the halls were empty. chief kehoe searched sandy hook elementary room by room. >> with the rooms locked, that means the teachers had done their job, locked their doors and hid their children from danger. so we went around the building to the front of the building. >> reporter: tell me about that. >> there was a very tragic observation on all parts because then you could see the carnage that was present. >> reporter: when you saw what was in that classroom, what went through your mind? >> i was devastated, absolutely devastated. i had no words. i felt a little bit of anger towards the person who had done this. >> reporter: did you think there was anyone there to save? >> no. >> reporter: as a firs

, you are not alone. these difficult days have unfolded. you've also inspired us, with stories of strength and resolve and sacrifice. >> jeff: the president also called for change in that speech saying are we really powerless in the face of such carnage. tomorrow the first funerals will take place. and today we learned police said that friday's massacre could be have been much, much worse. here's jim axelrod. >> reporter: newtown is a place of sober reflection and crushing emotion. all day people walk slowly to this makeshift memorial to leave flowers, light a candle, shed their tears. >> they were babies, they were innocent babies and that is what makes it almost incomprehensible. >> reporter: at st. rose of lima catholic church where adam landsa, his mother and eight of his young victims all wore shipped parishners were comforted by a lantern flown from the church of the nativity in bethlehem. but the in middle of mass a bomb threat, police emptied the church adding to the agony here. >> i don't think anything is worse than what happened in the school. >> reporter: this afternoo

unfamiliar places. michelle miller brings us up to speed. >> reporter: a half-foot of snow caused whiteouts on roads across the texas panhandle. there were near-blizzard conditions at day break in amarillo. 250 miles east, just outside oklahoma city, a 21-vehicle pile-up on interstate 40 stopped traffic for five hours. 12 people were injured. one state over in missouri, salt trucks were busy preparing the roads for expected heavy snowfall. transportation officials mark sheldon warned holiday travelers. >> certainly, those roads are slick. if you don't have to get out, please don't get out. >> reporter: the storm system caused heavy snow in the midwest, brought heavy rains and wind to the south, and shrouded the city of atlanta in fog. at least two reported tornadoes touched down in the houston area. one man was killed when a toppled tree flattened his pickup truck. by mid-afternoon, nearly 70,000 people in the houston area were without power. meteorologist david bernard says it's only going to get worse. >> this is a wide-ranging storm, as far as impacts go. there's a tornado thre

from a self-inflicted wound. outside parents were desperate for information. >> they didn't tell us anything, only what she know which is i don't know if that's accurate so we don't have any information. i don't know. >> reporter: parents cradled their children to protect them from the december cold and the shock of the shooting. some were directed to the fire house to be reunited with their children. others were pulled aside to a separate room. maureen kerins is a nurse. >> all i can say that one of the cops said it was the worst thing he'd ever seen in his entire career but it was when they told the parents, all these parents were waiting for their children to come out, they thought that they were still alive. there was 20 parents that were just told that their children are dead. it was awful. >> reporter: one six-year-old boy who was in a classroom when the gunman came in and shot the teacher has told his father that as all of this was unfolding at this elementary school down the road, the shooter, scott, never said a word. >> pelley: jim, thank you. police tell us, as jim said,

one used in the sandy hook attack to access to mental health care and to what he called a culture of that glorifies violence. major garrett is at the white house for us tonight. major? >> reporter: scott, gun control has never been an obama administration priority. it is now, and the clock is ticking on vice president joe biden's gun violence task force. mr. obama wants to announce new initiatives before his state of the union address in late january. >> there's no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence in our society. we're going to need to work on making access to mental health care at least as easy as access to a gun. we're going to need to look more closely at a culture that all too often glorifies guns and violence. and any actions we must take must begin inside the home and inside our hearts. >> reporter: after congresswoman gabrielle giffords and 18 others were shot in arizona and 12 were murdered in a colorado movie theater the president offered up words but little else. now words appear to be yielding to action and impatience. >> i will use all t

and they were crying and i said it's okay, my dad a cop. he'll help us. >> reporter: luke's father was rushing to the scene. what did you do when you saw him? >> he grabbed me, actually, and i said "oh, you're finally here, what took you so long?" >> reporter: there will be five more funerals here tomorrow, including one for vicki soto. she was one of the hero teachers who died trying to shield her students. luke santana had ms. soto for first grade a few years back and scott, he reports to me she was "so nice and kind." >> pelley: you have to love that boy. jim, thanks very much. figuring out why this happened is the hardest part of the investigation. justice correspondent bob orr has learned that the killer knew how to cover his tracks. >> reporter: the search for a motive is proving to be difficult. a computer and hard drive recovered from gunman adam lanza's home were smashed into so many small pieces the f.b.i. lab has been unable to retrieve any useful data. cyber experts are not optimistic. police are searching credit card e-mail, and phone records for lanza and his mother.

. he duckd from view. the officers heard a final volley of shots. lanza had used one of the handguns to take his own life. a.t.f. officials now tell us lanza and his mother went shooting together at various ranges over the past several years but, scott, they still don't know if adam lanza practiced in recent weeks. >> pelley: bob, you mentioned there was a fourth gun. do the investigators have a theory on what he intended to do with that? >> that fourth gun was a shotgun capable of carrying a large drum of ammunition. lanza left it behind in the car's truck. police say they're not sure what he intended to do it with but it suggests maybe he was thinking of a broader attack. >> pelley: bob, thanks very much. we asked correspondent seth doane to talk to people who could paint a broader picture of adam lanza. >> reporter: what kind of kid was adam lanza as a classmate. >> just quiet. >> reporter: this girl remembers adam lanza from german class. >> on one side he did something unspeakable, on the other, that's not how i remember him. i remember him as the nice kid that i sat near in cla

, this would : sentially be a last-ditch effort to avert the fiscal ially be sources tell us that aides to the president have been in talks preliminary talks, with aides to senate majority leader harry elf who himself was here in hawaii this weekend for the funeral of senator daniel inouye. eid is now working, we're told, on a smaller package than the comprehensive deal than the president was working on with speaker boehner. than tmall package would prevent tax rates from rising for middle-class, perhaps cut some spending and tie up a few other loose ends. so far, though, senator reid has so fbeen in touch with republicans over this plan. blicans ovent and the first lady as you mentioned, are here in hawaii. th atte also attended senator inouye's funeral this weekend. this is the president's first real vacation, jeff, in about a year. real nut he's cutting it short, heading home later this week to bu heading hothe fiscal cliff as well. lor:lor: nancy, the white house ouses they have a much better chance dealing with reid as opposed to boehner? >> well, jeff, essentially they're hoping--

individuals, all of us-- every single one of us-- agrees that tax rates shouldn't go up for the other 98% of americans. >> reporter: the president met with harry reid at the white house and spoke with house speaker john boehner. mr. obama said lawmakers need a break from fiscal cliff frustration-- much of it self- induced. >> we move forward together or we don't move forward at all so as we leave town for a few days to be with our families for the holidays, i hope it gives everybody some perspective. >> reporter: the president will follow his own advice. lawmakers and return to washington if there is a deal. >> pelley: major, thank you. as you know, this debate is all about bringing the federal budget under control. if the white house and congress can't figure it out, big across- the-board budget cuts and those tax increases we mentioned kick in automatically january 1. the so-called fiscal cliff. the republican speaker of the house tried to force through his solution last night but he couldn't keep his own party in line. nancy cordes is at the capitol. nancy? >> reporter: scott, this wa